BSN duties?

[nev]

I have this crazy question...what are the duties of a BSN compared to a regular nurse with an associate degree? Are there any specific differences (besides the abcheloer degree)?

Thanks

Nev

[BETSRN]

I live in a large medical community and I have heard many times from nurses and doctors that they prefer to work with and hire the nurses coming from our C.C. as ADN's then the nurses with BSN's from the local university. Apparently we our lucky to have a strong ADN program and the RN's coming out of it are well prepared.

I think that that "strength" they are referring to is the fact that diplome and Associates nurses have more actual hands on clinical training and are probably far better prepared clinically than the BSN grads.

I think a BSN is a great idea if you are planning to pursue a college degree anyway (do it all at once), but otherwise, the type of training has very little advantage otherwise. A BSN no longer makes it all that much easier to transition into a Masters program either.

I think that nursing had this big idea that to be "professional" it had to be an entry level BSN. I think that has backfired in everyone's faces!

I also remember the time when it was pretty much standard to have to have a BSN to work in homecare. Someplaces would take a BSN new grad with NO experience, but require a non-BSN to have several years at the bedside. The absolute LAST place any new grad should be is in homecare when they are in the home with no medical or nursing back-up. That concept struck me as folly right then!!

[KAT NC]

I actually took it (A'ers aren't necessarily good clinicians) as a challenge. The only goal I have is to learn the material as thoroughly as I can, so I can serve my pt. to the best of my ability and then some.

[BETSRN]

Stereotypes are wrong. To say A students aren't the best clinicians isn't fair. Granted there are A students that aren't the best clinicians and some C students are great clinicians. But visa versa is just as true.

Don't believe stereotypes. :)

All the A's and bookwork in the world are NOT going to help if you cannot cut it at the bedside.

[BETSRN]

Good attitude. There is no reason not to expect A's out of yourself if you've made A's prereqs. I didn't find nursing school any harder to get A's in than other hard classes like A&P.

There was a learning curve for me in the testing. They test NCLEX style and I wasn't used to that, and I did make one B.

The trick is not to be so hung up on grades that you sacrifice your life and your serenity and get all bent out of shape if you, gasp, make a B. There are far more important things in life than getting A's, but I'm sure you know that.

Go for the A's, expect A's, learn the stuff. Good luck to you.

I found nursing school FAR harder than any of my college courses for my initial degree.

[BETSRN]

so is it possible for BSN students to make 4.0 GPAs like students majoring in Biological sciences?

Does it really matter as long as you are learning and acquiring the skills? When you become a nurse (or in any profession) no one is going to care what your GPA was as long as you have the technical and critical thinking skills required for your job.

[BETSRN]

A BSN would have clinical obligations and time spent on careplanning----- (sometimes I was up til 2-3 a.m. and only got 3-4 hours sleep before I had to be at the hospital by 6 a.m. for my clinical shift)------these are commitments you won't have in pursuing another science degree such as chemistry or biology. Prepared to do 12-hour clinical shifts in hospitals/longterm care centers/hospice, etc? Cause that is what you face getting into nursing.

Really I would talk to someone you know who has been through nursing school, if you can. It's certainly NOT for everyone and as I said before, it's not necessary the right route to medical school/careers in medicine.

We had the same requirements for clinical obligations, careplanning and preparations as the BSN students. The big difference for us was that from day 1, we did 2-3 actual clinical days each week (usually the full 8 hours).

[KAT NC]

That is true no one will ask you your gpa after you graduate and are licensed and I don't share mine face to face. Frankly, it's call self-pride, satisfaction,(whatever one wants to call it) to know you've done your best and have been rewarded for it or have it acknowledged. I don't make A's for anyone else other than myself.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

All the A's and bookwork in the world are NOT going to help if you cannot cut it at the bedside.

Absolutely true. But to say that those that make A's tend to not be good clinicians is wrong and stereotyping.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We had the same requirements for clinical obligations, careplanning and preparations as the BSN students. The big difference for us was that from day 1, we did 2-3 actual clinical days each week (usually the full 8 hours).

What could you possibly "do" on day 1? My ADN program it was week four that we started clinicals, after we learned to take vitals signs (and what they meant), do baths and hygiene etc. I would have been at a horrible disadvantage day 1 as I came from a non-nursing/medical background.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

That is true no one will ask you your gpa after you graduate and are licensed and I don't share mine face to face. Frankly, it's call self-pride, satisfaction,(whatever one wants to call it) to know you've done your best and have been rewarded for it or have it acknowledged. I don't make A's for anyone else other than myself.

Some of us are just built that way. The one's who aren't don't understand. I appreciate that you are standing up for yourself and not allowing others to judge you. :)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I found nursing school FAR harder than any of my college courses for my initial degree.

Honestly I didn't. Let me say nursing school was tough, demanding, hard and time consuming. But no more tough to me than A&P, but for the time consuming part. Nursing school was way more time consuming than anything I've ever done. And do date, stands as the most difficult time period in my life.

But as far as acedemic difficulty, nursing school was not more acedemically challenging than chemistry, A&P, etc. As I said, there was a learning curve due to the difference in testing. :)

[suzy253, RN]

Also, not just learning/memorizing but understanding it...the pathophysiology of the disease.